The Devourer of Souls
by roe-kun
Summary: This is a story of action, mystery, and love. Rated M for later lemony content but the first several chapters are clean - . What would you do to fight for the ones you love, what if you were faced with the threat of something or someone who threatened everything you believed in. Read on to find out just how upside down Ichigo's world is about to get!
1. Prologue

_**AN~ Below is a story of mine that i have been fiddling with for a few months now, i want to see what people think of my prologue opening before i post more of it so review and please enjoy! :)**_

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_**Prologue **_

_ Ichigo sailed through the air like a bullet from a gun, his velocity only slowing slightly as his body ricocheted off of a couple buildings before coming to a sudden stop against a broken piece of wall. The world seemed to spin as Ichigo attempted to get up on one knee. His limbs shaking from exhaustion, Ichigo stabbed Zangetsu into the ground, and summoning his last dredges of strength, began to stagger to his feet. He wouldn't lose this fight; no…he COULDN'T lose this fight, not if he wanted to risk losing everything and everyone he cared about. Ichigo blinked his eyes to clear his vision; the cut above his right eye was bleeding and kept blurring his sight. As a shadow loomed over him Ichigo looked up into that dark face, meeting the glare from those eyes with his own._

_ "Is this seriously all that you can give me Ichigo Kurosaki? I must say for all your talk about having something to fight for and protecting those you love I'm terribly unimpressed. You are weak, and therefore don't deserve to live in my new world order!" _Ichigo sneered up at his enemy with loathing _"And for all your talk of being all powerful, having the power to cut off your opponents' energy doesn't make you powerful, it makes you the weakest of all actua…" His sentence was cut short and Ichigo choked and doubled over as a sudden gut wrenching punch hit him, knocking the air from his lungs. He painfully sucked in a breath or two as he stared at the ground, his vision once again blurring. "You would do well to remember that it is I who holds your life in my hands, I can end you quickly…or I may decide to see just how much pain I can cause before you pass away!" Another fierce hit, this time a kick, lifted Ichigo several feet off the ground before gravity pulled him back down. Ichigo coughed and tasted copper as the ground turned crimson beneath him. "Stay on the ground like the dog you are substitute soul reaper and accept your fate, if you beg for your life I may end you quickly. You have a few minutes to decide how you die." With that the figure retreated back a few steps and leaned back against the wall smiling down at his prey._

_ Ichigo continued to stare down at the ground; angry tears began to build up in the corner of his eyes. He blinked them away and watched their slow descent before splattering against the concrete; he had given it his all but he had been thwarted over and over. Ichigo had met the threat head on, but his opponent had the ability to negate spiritual power, before Ichigo could even finish saying and unleash Tensa Zangetsu and go into bankai, he had instantly felt weakened and the gathering of his spiritual energy had stopped. Fighting in Shikai had forced Ichigo to be on the defensive…and it was a losing defensive. A sudden thought struck him, and even though the very thought struck fear in him; Ichigo knew that losing everything was worse. With that in mind Ichigo delved into his inner world, and as he entered the twisted sideways world of buildings he began his search for the one being who could if at all possibly aid him._

_ Ichigo came to a sudden stop as he beheld who he was looking for. His hollow form wickedly grinned over at him as he sat upon a building spinning his own Zangetsu around. "I know why you're here Ichigo, and there's nothing you can do to get me to agree to help you!" Ichigo glared down at the one being he had secretly always feared, Hichigo was everything that he was not, pure instinct, the thrill for blood, and his inner animosity. "How would you not want to help me? If I die then you die as well you idiot!" Ichigo yelled at his counterpart. "Well the answer to that is simple, I'M prepared to die but are you?" Hichigo fired back without a second thought. "I-I…no…I'm not ready! And that's why I'm asking for your help." This statement only seemed to make Hichigo grin wider as the stare down continued. _

_ "Why should I aid you Ichigo? Once those Visored idiots taught you to not only transform at will but to actually have some control over your hollow powers you took away all my fun! Watching you get your ass kicked is rather satisfying in a way; I would almost say it's karma for shutting me out" Hichigo looked at Ichigo almost as if he were daring him to make a retort. "Let's face facts here you orange haired prick, you loathe and fear me. I'm the one side of yourself that you have little to no control over, and you're just afraid that your inner hollow will wind up killing someone you love, is that about right?!" Ichigo felt his eyes widen as Hichigo's words echoed perfectly with what he knew to be true. "You know that's true…" This seemed to excite Hichigo and not necessarily in a good way, "Then why is it you have never come to truly face me?! We have a rocky truce at best where I agreed to work with Zangetsu and lend you some of my power, and yet even though you continually use your mask, you never once thanked me or worked at mastering what I have to offer you! Not that I need your thanks, if I truly wanted to I could fight my way back to the surface and have fun in the way I used to!" Ichigo felt a cold shiver run down his back at the thought as he pictured Hichigo taking over and doing what he deemed to be "fun"._

_ "Then why in the HELL are you being such a hypocrite?! First you say you're ready to die but then go on to tell me all you want to do is to fight and have your way? I can stand here and argue with you all you want but the fact remains that without your help I'm going to die, and then so will you! For your entire tough act I think you're just as scared to die as I am" Ichigo felt his cheeks grow hot as his temper flared, if Hichigo wanted him to beg for his help, it sure wasn't going to happen. Suddenly Hichigo became serious and stood up staring eye to eye with him. "Well well well, looks like someone is finally ready to man up. Maybe you're right Ichigo, maybe I'm really not ready to die, but then the real question you need to ask yourself is just what are you willing to do, and how far are you willing to go to protect the ones you love?!" Hichigo looked deadly serious, as if Ichigo's answer would determine their future, Ichigo gulped as he realized that it really did determine the future. "Come on now Ichigo; it's a simple answer really, are you willing to put your trust into your animal instincts?" With that Hichigo held out his hand towards him, Ichigo knew that if he took his hand he would be making a deal with his inner devil and he couldn't take it back. As he reached forward to accept Hichigo's offer Ichigo said, "If I do this, then you promise not to lose control? Because the moment you try to hurt someone I WILL take back over and I will make sure you NEVER see the light of day again." Hichigo's maniacal grin returned as he replied, "I would like to see you try." With that their hands met and a blinding flash grew between them._

_ Ichigo's body twitched, the great figure against the wall noticed instantly a shift in Ichigo's spiritual power, and grinned. He had been hoping Ichigo would fight to the end; he wanted to utterly crush him! Strolling over to him he said, "Well it seems like you don't want a quick death after all, then so be it you worm, but nothing has changed because you are still pathetic and weak!" As he swung his sword down at Ichigo's bare neck he felt a sudden burst of spiritual power and Ichigo's hand snaked up and stopped his sword mid swing. "Now, whoever said I was Ichigo you fool." He raised an eyebrow as he heard Ichigo's voice start to warp, and gain an echo like quality. "Ha, so you think you have a chance just because you mustered up some spiritual power? Have you already forgotten that I can silence that?!" The Devourer focused on Ichigo and tapped into his power, planning on weakening him, when he heard a chuckle. "That tickles; do you really think I'm as simple minded and weak as Ichigo?" Ichigo's head rose up as the whites of his eyes were being edged in with black and his irises were turning gold. "Your eyes…thought that was only when you put that stupid hollow mask on?" Ichigo's face seemed to twist as a grin spread across his cheeks, "Bingo big guy, you're going to have to try harder if you want to silence me!" With a sudden shove from his arm, Ichigo sent him flying into a wall. As he picked himself up from the rubble he once again tried to silence Ichigo's spiritual pressure but Ichigo continued to stand as if mocking him, furious he asked, "Such power...BUT HOW?! You should be curled up in a ball right now from my control!" Maniacal laughter was the response at first, "Like I said before, whoever said I was Ichigo? I have a different sort of power that Ichigo only wishes he had access to; you better make this fun for me, because right now you're doing nothing but give me a dull headache!" For the first time ever he felt a pang of fear as he realized the truth in these words, even with all his intent focused on the figure before him, nothing seemed to be happening. His eyes widened as Ichigo raised his sword, "Now then, Devourer of Souls was it? Let's see just how much you can back that statement up with actions rather than words…ban-KAI!"_


	2. A Day of Surprises

**A/N and so we begin the true story, if you have stuck around and were intrigued with the prologue I do hope you enjoy this first chapter. So read on and keep being awesome! please leave a review if you have critiques :)**

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**Chapter 1 – The Day of Surprises**

Rukia awoke with a start, her brain feeling a little fuzzy as she slowly began to realize that this was the real world, and not the dream one she had just been in. Running a hand through her dark hair, Rukia began taking deep breathes, slowing her heart rate back down to normal. She knew that it was just a dream, but it had seemed so real, she could have sworn that she saw the Soul Society in ruins. She had felt paralyzed as she watched her friends get struck down one by one…then Ichigo had gotten involved, and that's when things should have gone for the better. It was not to be, seeing Ichigo impaled on that bastard's sword had been the final straw and caused her to awaken in an agitated state. The real question on her mind though, who that shadowy figure was and even though she was awake, why did she still feel an icy chill down her back.

Feeling her heart return to normal Rukia shook off the covers and rolled her body out of bed. She couldn't let a nightmare have an effect on her like that, after all dreams were just that, a dream. After getting dressed for the day, Rukia preceded to head though the Kuchiki manor. She kept an eye out for Byakuya, her older brother, she knew that he would only think it was silly nonsense but somewhere in her heart Rukia knew that something troubling was coming their way. Call it women's intuition or what have you, but the only other time Rukia had a gut feeling this strong was when she had pierced Ichigo with Sode no Shirayuki. From that night forward their destinies had been intertwined, for both ups and downs. As Ichigo crossed her mind, Rukia couldn't help but smile. Despite almost having died because of what had happened that night, Rukia wouldn't change anything. Ever since then Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, and Uryu had proven to be invaluable allies, and even greater friends. Ichigo hadn't been coming around the soul society as much as he used to, it seems that the hollows had been slowly increasing in numbers and have more frequent attacks on Karakura town.

Turning a corner, Rukia was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the approaching figure. Before she knew it, Rukia felt her head butt into the person in front of her. Backing up a step, Rukia blurted out "Hey watch where you're going!" She then felt the blood drain from her face as she looked up into the eyes of her older brother, immediately she dropped down onto her knees and bowed down, showing her respects. "Nii-sama I-I apologize for my outburst!" Byakuya lazily looked down at her, with a little bit of foreboding in his voice "Rukia, you must learn to control yourself, if I had been anyone else you would have brought dishonor against our name for that." Without missing a beat she replied, "I'm sorry brother, it will not happen again." Looking up, Rukia saw that he seemed to accept this as he said nothing further. Getting up off the ground Rukia remembered that he's just who she had wanted to run into, although not literally. "I was actually looking for you; I wanted your advice on something." Byakuya looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what would you ask of me? I have but a moment, as I must meet with the elders very soon." Rukia knotted her fingers behind her back, and decided to just get straight to the point since Byakuya would never accept idle chatter. "Do you believe in the power of dreams, or gut feelings? You see there's this dream I had last night that turned into a nightmare quite quickly. Then ever since I have awoken I have had this feeling that something is coming, and it most definitely isn't something good." Byakuya seemed to mull this over for a second before responding, "Dreams are nothing more than our thoughts running wild they shouldn't be taken seriously. More often than not dreams are just a way for our minds to play tricks on us, showing us what we desire but can no longer have." As he looked down Rukia knew he wasn't just talking about dreams in general anymore, he had to be mentioning dreams about Hisana. Not wanting to think about such things Rukia mumbled, "I don't believe that nightmares are what my mind desires brother, even in the deepest parts of my mind I would never want to see Ichigo run through on some shadowy figures sword." She felt a small blush rush to her cheeks as she finished saying this, "So then what are your thoughts on gut feelings?" Byakuya had stopped looking down, "I must be going, if you want to know then walk with me, I can't stand around and have idle chatter."

Sensing that this was a rare chance to have a conversation with him, Rukia quickly fell into step and followed. "Now then, gut feelings are more trustworthy. As shinigami we are aware of spiritual pressure, and have been trained to observe the world around us at all times. Instinct is what drives us when a situation arises and we need to act. Gut feelings, or intuition as some say are just your instincts kicking in before you know what's fully coming. Having said that though, not all feelings are intuition, some people allow their personal feelings to cloud their judgment and thereby their prowess dims by comparison." Rukia thought about this, attempting to figure out if she was letting feelings cloud her thoughts, or if she truly felt like something was coming. She admitted to herself that seeing Ichigo die had shocked her to her core, and that's why she woke up immediately after it happened. She had had nightmares before, after all who didn't have them at some point. This one in particular had affected her though, she couldn't say why because she had never really felt strongly for him, he was just an idiot who had a tendency to do stupid things and get himself into trouble. He had a heart though; nobody else she knew would have fought the entire seireitei to save her. If that were true though, then how could she explain how strongly her heart had ached during her dream?

Returning her thoughts to the conversation at hand, "So should I just ignore the feeling I have, since it was most likely caused by my dream? I feel as if something dark is on the horizon but that could easily just be caused by my emotions." They walked on in silence for a moment as they each got lost in their own thoughts. "Don't trouble yourself with feelings Rukia; they will only get in the way at the most inopportune time. Stick with what you know to be true, and use the truth to make a decision. Now if you excuse me I must go meet with the elders, special guests are coming and arrangements must be made." With that Byakuya walked off leaving Rukia standing there, wondering what was going on.

Finally deciding that her dreams had nothing to do with the future, Rukia affirmed that in her mind and decided to put all thoughts of her dream aside. Feeling a little better and yet still feeling that small chill down her back Rukia realized Byakuya had mentioned special guests of sorts. Furrowing her brow as she thought about whom these supposed guests could be, she stood there in silence. A mischievous thought snuck into her mind as she decided maybe she should try eavesdropping on his meeting with the elders to figure out who it could be. She hadn't done it since she was a little girl, and if she got caught Byakuya's fury would know no bounds. Deciding to hell with it she walked off in the direction he had been heading straight towards the elders meeting hall.

She nimbly jumped up into the trees next to the halls windows; lucky for her the vibrant leaves concealed her small form perfectly. She silently said quick thanks for the fact that the staff had opened the shutters to let in the cool breeze and warm sunlight; she could hear everything perfectly as she noticed Byakuya enter the room and bow to the elders. One of the elders nodded his head acknowledging the 6th squads captain, "Good afternoon Byakuya, why is it that you have asked for this meeting?" Ending his bow and looking around the room meeting every elders eye he began what she was sure was a well-rehearsed speech, "Elders, as I'm sure you may or may not know several special guests are currently on their way to the Soul Society on head captain Yamamoto's personal invitation. This is not public knowledge due to fact that these guests may not be overly welcomed upon first meeting with the soul reapers. Due to this fact the head captain has commissioned me to ask you all if we may house the guests here in the manor. They wouldn't need much space, just a few rooms at best and this would allow them privacy since our manor isn't loud and boisterous like any of the barracks around the Seireitei."

Shifting slightly so she could see the elder's reaction, she could feel her heart beating a little faster at the thought of these special guests. Yet, why would they not be welcomed by the soul reapers, were they some sort of mercenaries or what? The elders shifted slightly as they took this all in, finally one of them replied, "We have no knowledge of these visitors you speak of Byakuya, why did the head captain not feel privy to informing us of this?" She immediately looked to her brother, but Byakuya was cool and collected as always, almost as if he had expected this response since he immediately answered. "I'm sure he meant no disrespect to our house by not sending word to you all, I only know due to the fact that we had a captains meeting where he told us about this. He said we must not talk about this with our squads but to make sure we kept foot traffic to a minimum today since they will be arriving shortly to his offices." The elders guffawed a little upon hearing how soon they would be appearing, "He just expected us to let them into our manor didn't he? This is such short notice to possibly make an informed decision! We know nothing about these people, and yet they will be here in the Seireitei momentarily? What if we refuse housing, what will these precious guests do then?" They all looked to Byakuya almost daring him to make a retort. Biting her lip as she watched these proceedings, Rukia knew this wasn't exactly going well.

With what she was sure was forced respect she could still sense a hint of steel in his voice as Byakuya answered, "Again I'm sure he meant no disrespect by his actions and I'm sure that was not his intent. These are honored guests, and our family is known for its honor who better to house them and to keep their peace than us?" Byakuya stopped for a moment to let that sink in, and before any of the elders could respond he quickly added, "Besides, if we refuse housing think of how badly that would look on us, think of the _dishonor_." Putting a slight intonation on that last word, he fell silent and Rukia smiled as she realized what he was doing. The elders may have power within the manor, but they aren't brainless enough to bring anything negative upon the Kuchiki name, and she was willing to bet that's exactly what Byakuya had planned on. The elders fell silent as he finished his sentence; all of them staring at him in what she was sure were an attempt to detect his intentions. She couldn't believe how calm he was, the elders always kind of unnerved her and she knew had she been in his shoes she would be fidgeting right now. After what seemed an eternity, the elders stopped talking amongst them and faced Byakuya once again, "Very well Byakuya, we agree to house these guests in the manor under the condition that they bring themselves to us and introduce themselves before we show them their rooms." Nodding his head and bowing again he replied, "Thank you elders, I shall let them know when they arrive. You have done the Kuchiki name proud today." Waving his hand in a dismissing manner, the elder who had done most of the talking told Byakuya that he could leave.

As she watched him leave the room, Rukia started to shift her position to get down. After a few moments of nothing happening she began to climb down. As she started lowering herself down off the branch by her hands she heard a voice below her and she felt ice run through her veins as she recognized Byakuya's voice, "What might I ask was your intent on eavesdropping on that meeting?" Her eyes widening and cursing herself for getting caught and by Byakuya of all people! She released her grip and dropped to the ground, staring at the ground she refused to look any higher. "I asked you a question Rukia, why were you listening?" Sighing a little and grimacing she looked up into his eyes. He didn't look angry but then again you never knew just how he was feeling due to his complete control of his emotions. "I'm sorry Nii-sama I let my curiosity get the best of me regarding these guests and I couldn't help but try and find out." Sensing nothing from him she dropped her head again, fearing that she was about to get reprimanded by him severely. Hearing him sigh she felt his hand cup her chin and pull her eyes back up to him, "You do realize that you could have just asked me about it right?" Feeling confused she looked into his eyes, "B-but you told the elders that this was a matter of secrecy. Would you really expect me to just up and ask you about these guests anyway?"

She thought she noticed a slight glimmer of amusement in his eyes before his cool demeanor set in again. "Now how would you have known that _before _listening in on my conversation with them hmm?" Pursing her lips together Rukia knew that he had a great point there, "Are you mad at me?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, similar to how Ichigo always did. "No I'm not; I can't expect you to always be on your best behavior since Ichigo's regard for the rules seems to be rubbing off on you. Don't expect me to always be so calm about these matters though, you're lucky it was just me who caught you and nobody else." A small smile came to her lips as she felt a great weight seem to lift off of her. "Just how did you find me anyway? Those branches and leaves covered me pretty well I thought." He looked up into the tree and back down to her, "That answer is a simple one, regarding our conversation from earlier as Shinigami we are trained to always be alert to our surroundings. How could I not sense my own sister's spiritual power even when she's trying to conceal it? I wouldn't make a very good captain or leader of our house otherwise."

Scuffing her foot against the ground Rukia couldn't think of any reply, he made a good point again. She wasn't expecting his next comment though, "But since you seem keen on figuring out more about these guests how about you accompany me to greet them with the head captain, since I too am curious as to the nature of this secrecy. You understand you are to tell no one about this, understood?" Bowing her head and keeping her rising excitement in check, "Yes Nii-sama! I will be on my best behavior and will not breathe a word to anyone!" Nodding his head accepting her statement he pushed himself off of the tree and began to walk down the path. She couldn't help but feel relieved at how calmly he had brushed off her eavesdropping upon his meeting. He must be extremely curious about these guests as well since he was taking her with him.

Shaking her head out of her idle thoughts, Rukia jogged up behind Byakuya and fell into step with him. She felt the sun on her face, and looked up into the bright blue sky, wondering how her day had gone from random nightmare feelings, to mysterious guests, and even Byakuya acting calmly. This certainly was a day of surprises for her; she hoped that meant it would be a good day after all. As this thought struck her a cool breeze blew and instantly a cold chill swept up her back.


End file.
